Officer hurt when driver crashes into bar files lawsuit

RIVERVIEW, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis officer who was hurt when a car crashed into the bar where he was eating alleges in a lawsuit that the bar had served the motorist too many drinks.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 38-year-old Keith Messmer filed the suit Thursday in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Messmer and two others were hurt in March when the motorist drove into Poor Richard's Restaurant in Eureka. Messmer was off duty at the time.

The driver, 26-year-old Christopher Zotta, of Pacific, was arrested several miles away. He was charged with drunken driving and another felony.

Messmer has said he would lose his jobs with the Riverview police force because of his injuries. The suit names Zotta, as well as the bar's owner and Messmer's insurance company.